The Government of the Student Body is working to forge the frontier of electronic voting at Iowa State.

The senate passed a bill Wednesday night to implement electronic voting into the GSB election process, a trend that is expected to spread.

“This is a very important bill,” said Alex Olson, off campus. “We have 6 percent of the students voting right now. What does that mean?”

The prospect of electronic voting, first raised in response to low voter turnout last year, has sparked controversy among senators. Security and unethical voting methods have been major concerns discussed both on and off the senate floor.

“Yes, there are problems right now, but there are problems with everything,” Olson said. “This is a calculated risk that will help the students of Iowa State.”

An amendment proposed by Rick Cordaro, UDA and author of the original bill, turned enough of the bill’s opposition in favor of electronic voting to pass it.

The amendment mandated that, “For the first year of system operation, voting would take place in designated polling locations.”

After the first year, the senate would review the effectiveness and security of the electronic system and consider expanding voting to the Internet.

“This amendment doesn’t close any doors,” Cordaro said.

Before Cordaro’s amendment passed, the bill stated that polling would take place only in “GSB-sanctioned, university buildings,” without leaving open the possibility of broadening voting to the Web.

The restriction in this amendment, proposed last week by Ben Golding, engineering, defeated the initial purpose of the bill, Cordaro said. After that amendment was passed, Cordaro removed his name from the bill.

Cordaro’s passed amendment was developed through many meetings in the past week, during which supporting and opposing senators worked to generate a bill which satisfied both viewpoints of electronic voting.

“We took everyone’s opinion into account, and both sides took steps toward the middle,” Golding said. “It gets us to where we can pass this and make a change.”

Although the amendment passed, its yearlong restriction on polling was met with opposition.

Some senators maintained that postponing a shift from physical polling locations to the Internet would delay addressing the issue of ethical voting.

“What are we solving by waiting a year?” asked Luke DeKoster, RCA. “A year is not going to solve the ethical problems.”

However, modified by the latest amendment, the bill passed 28-5.

“Online voting has the potential to be the greatest accomplishment this university has ever achieved,” said Jonathon Weaver, TRA. “With it, GSB will usher in a new millennium.”

The funding for the bill passed 28-3-1.

Michel Pogge, off campus and also the election commissioner, proposed an amendment to the bill that asked for another $1,500 for two Ethernet jacks and a survey gift. Several senators protested, saying that the money was too much.

“I think $1,500 for one year — it isn’t worth it,” Cordaro said.